Un fondement solide

Et ces commandements […] tu les inculqueras à tes enfants. – Deutéronome 6.6,7


Avant ses 2 ans, ma petite-fille Katie a fait quelque chose dont tout grand-père serait fier: elle s’est mise à reconnaitre les marques et les années des voitures. Tout a commence lorsque son père et elle, se sont mis à passer du temps ensemble à s’amuser avec sa vielle collection de voiture jouets. Son père lui disait : << Katie, prends la chevy 1957>> et elle la choisissait parmi les centaines de voitures miniatures. Or un jour, tandis qu’il lui lisait un livre de la collection << Curious George>>, elle est descendue de ses genoux pour courir chercher une Rolls Royce miniature- la réplique exacte de la voiture illustrée dans le livre.

Si une enfant de deux ans peut faire de tels liens, cela ne prouve-t-il pas l’importance d’enseigner les bonnes choses aux enfants dès un très jeune âge ? Il suffit de les familiariser avec les choses de Dieu, de susciter leur intérêt, de les amener à reconnaître la vérité et de leur servir d’exemple. Comme pour Moise, dans Deutéronome 6, il s’agit de saisir toutes les occasions d’enseigner les vérités bibliques aux enfants pour qu’ils se familiarisent avec elles et les intègrent dans leur vie. En tirant partie de leurs centres d’intérêt, nous leur répétons les récits bibliques jusqu'à ce qu’ils les connaissent, tout en leur servant de modèles de piété.

Donnons donc à nos enfants un fondement solide en leur enseignant l’amour de Dieu, le salut en Christ et l’importance d’une vie de piété. – J.D.B

Bâtissez la vie de vos enfants sur le fondement solide de la parole.

Copyright RBC ministries Grand Rapids USA

Une Prière Insensée

Je serai avec toi, comme j’ai été avec Moise: je ne te délaisserai point, je ne t’abandonnerai point. – Josué 1.5

J’ai parfois honte de mes prières. Je m’entends trop souvent prononcer des expressions communes qui sont d’avantage des propos creux qu’une interaction réfléchie et intime. Une expression qui m’énerve, et qui selon moi risque d’offenser Dieu, est : Seigneur, sois avec moi. Dans la Bible, Dieu me promet continuellement de ne jamais me quitter.

Dieu a fait cette promesse à Josué juste avant de conduire les Israelites en terre promise (Jos 1.5). L’auteur de l’épitre aux Hébreux l’a déclarée plus tard en faveur de tous les croyants : je ne te délaisserai point, et je ne t’abandonnerai point> ( 13.5). Dans les deux cas, le contexte indique que la présence de Dieu nous procure le pouvoir de faire sa volonté, et non notre propre volonté, ce que j’ai généralement en tête dans mes prières.

Il se peut qu’il vaille mieux prier comme ceci : Seigneur, merci pour ton esprit qui habite en moi et qui est désireux et capable de me diriger dans la direction que tu veux que j’emprunte. Que jamais je ne t’amène à faire ma volonté, mais que je me soumettre humblement a la tienne.

Si nous faisons la volonté de Dieu, il sera avec nous même sans que nous le lui demandions. Si nous ne faisons pas sa volonté, nous devons lui en demander pardon, changer de voie et le suivre.

Puissent nos prières ne pas être insensées, mais abonder plutôt dans le sens de la volonté de Dieu.

RBC Ministries
Reproduction Autorisé Michigan USA 2011

Seven Mistakes Christians Often make when Reading and Teaching the Bible

Here are seven common mistakes that Christians make when reading and teaching the Bible that can lead them, and the people they teach, to misunderstand its message. While there are many more mistakes that Christians make when reading the Bible, these five will help a Christian begin to understand the problem. Then the average reader can begin to be a better student of G-d’s Word.

1. Anachronism-

Anachronism is the idea that we read into a text something that was, in time, not there. For example, while saying that Jesus called Peter on His cell phone, we would laugh, however, saying that Jesus told Peter, upon this rock I will build my Church, is just as ridiculous.

Why is that? The reason is because all of Jesus’ Disciples were Jewish and not Christian. Even using the word Jewish is somewhat Anachronistic, however, the Church, as we define it today, was not in existence then. People were known as the congregation not the Church. Congregation is a commonly used Jewish term for believers of a particular ilk.

2. Assuming that Paul and the Apostles converted to Christianity-

We take for granted that the Apostle Paul converted from Judaism to Christianity. This is also ridiculous. Aside from the obvious anachronism of the idea of Christianity, Paul states himself that he is a Torah believing and an upright Jew. He sees himself as a missionary from Judaism, with a call to bring Gentiles into the Jewish community, not the other way around. The Christian religion was founded on principles far removed from Jesus, Paul and the other NT writers. Christians are ignorant of Judaism because of what the “church” has done, not because Paul gave it up. There was a deliberate move by the Gentile congregations to distance themselves from Jews, specifically Jewish believers. This was result of socio-political pressure and infighting.

3. Thinking that Christian Doctrines and Christian Symbols were held by Jesus and The NT Writers.

Christians often assume that ideas such as the Trinity, and the Deity of Christ, are concepts always held by believers. Because of the ignorance of Christian History by a large group of Gentile believers today, we think that there was this automatic assumption that our doctrines have always been the same as the Apostles. Actually, they are in some cases the opposite. There is a distinct Hebraic view of the world that was held by all of the NT writers, as well as Jesus. The doctrines that we know as Christian today began to develop as the Church became more Gentile and the leaders of the Gentile congregation were ignorant of or opposed to the Hebraic Worldview. Their view of Scripture, reinterpreted with Greek Philosophy, rather than G-d’s history with Israel, is the view that developed the doctrines we often hold dear today. These views, developed after the death of the Apostles, were not held by them or Yeshua the real name of Jesus.

4. Thinking that Greeks wrote the New Testament-

While the New Testament writers may have lived in Greek speaking areas, it doesn’t mean that they were also Greek thinking. For those of you who are bilingual, you should be aware that even if you speak a different language, you think in your own native culture. The native culture of Jesus and the Apostles, was Hebrew; a culture that was often in opposition to the Greek culture. The Hebrew worldview was strange to the Greeks and often these worldviews clashed violently. Many of the Church doctrines were established well after the removal of Jewish influence in the body of believers and also in reaction to and opposition of a Jewish influence by Anti-Semitic Gentile Church Fathers.

5. Paul’s meaning of Law vs. Grace is misunderstood; however, ignorance of the Law is no excuse.

One of the biggest problems for Christians is a fundamental and potentially devastating misunderstanding of the book of Romans that leads Christians into believing that they are “the new Israel” or that they have no obligations to that community. This is far from the truth. The lack of understanding of the Hebraic Worldview that permeates all of the writings of Paul the Apostle has led the Church to misunderstand Paul’s total dedication to Torah, his nuanced views of who should follow what, and how Gentiles are to accommodate Jewish believers and not the other way around. Anti-Semitism is at the root of what many Christians believe, even IF, they say they love Israel. The Law is not in opposition to Grace. Grace is in opposition to Legalism. Paul upholds the Law and even fulfills it in his own life. He encourages Jewish believers to follow the Torah, and invites Gentiles to observe as well.

6. Evangelism is not what you think it is.

Christians often think that Jesus was sending Christians out to save the world. We are to go into all the world and teach everyone that Jesus died for our personal sins; well not exactly.
In Matthew 28: 19-20, Jesus was not setting a mandate for Gentiles to go convert everyone to Christianity. He was giving authority to His Jewish Talmidim, in the same Rabbinic Style of that time, to go and to teach Gentiles how to follow Torah. He was acting exactly in the style of teachers who had disciples in his time. There was nothing unusual about His message to his Talmidim.

Today, many Christians, ignorant of Torah, Judaism, history and the violent Anti-Semitic history of the Gentile “Christian Church”, ignorantly say things to Jewish people thinking that they will just hear and convert. The question is converting to what? If believing in Yeshua, because Jesus wasn’t his name, means Gentiles converting to Judaism into a congregation that interprets Torah differently as the Apostle Paul clearly said, what are we doing trying to “convert” Jews to a system that rejected and reinvented the message of the Gospel? No wonder they don’t listen!

When we read the Bible, often we see the message of Jesus as telling Christians that we need to bring His message to the Jews, as if they are just one of “the nations”. While it is important for Jewish people to know what G-d is doing, often the last people to tell them should be Christians. Just understanding that the words, “the nations” means Gentiles, should give us pause. Jesus was telling Jews to bring the Jewish message of Yeshua, a new way of interpreting Torah, to Gentiles. We, folks, are the Gentiles, the Jewish believers in Messiah are the ones called to teach all the He commanded. This, by the way is the Law.

7. We think the Cross is a symbol of Peace-

While Christians proudly talk about the Cross, they are unaware that the symbol of the Cross that we know was invented by Constantine, a pagan emperor in the fourth century, who used the idea after he supposedly had a vision of a cross and hearing the voice of G-d saying to him, “with this, conquer in my name”. That symbol then became a tool to kill and to force people to accept Constantine’s terms. In addition, after he did conquer, he set up a giant statue of himself. We think that it was this symbol of the peace of Christ, however, that is not how it came about. From early in the second century, the Gentiles began to take over the believing communities. As they did, they slowly incorporated ideas that deliberately removed them from the Judaism that Jesus told His Jewish Apostles to teach.

While these ideas are just the tip of the iceberg in understanding the huge problem we encounter by being ignorant of the history of the believing community of Jews and some Gentiles, Anti-Semitism of the primarily Gentile church, Jesus’ message and even Paul’s that lead us to a reading of Scripture that is fraught with error, just seeking information will help us begin to move in a direction toward rather than away from the message of the Bible.

Dr. Cheryl Durham
NC, USA
abovenbeyonddiscipleship

Integrity…Walking it Out

Integrity. The dictionary defines integrity as possession of firm principles, steadfastly adhering to high moral principles, the state of being complete or undivided, whole, and honest.
In Christianity, integrity is one of the most important virtues that should influence our decisions, our actions, and steer our everyday lives.
In Philippians 1: 27-30, the apostle Paul urges the church to walk in integrity,

“Whatsoever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ…being steadfast and firm in one spirit, contending as one man for the faith of the Gospel without being frightened of those who oppose you…For it has been granted to you on behalf of Christ not only to believe on Him, but also to suffer for Him, since you are going through the same struggle you saw I had, and that I still have.”

This dictionary definition is a good starting point, but the Biblical picture Paul paints tells me two things. First, it says “Whatever happens, conduct yourselves in a manner worthy of the Gospel of Christ.” The phrase “whatever happens” lets me know that we can be sure, something is going to happen. We are going to be faced with numerous opportunities throughout our Christianity to make choices to walk in integrity. We may even be faced with these decisions daily.

The second, is the fact that the scripture says that we will suffer for Him, and go through the same struggle as Paul. How can we possibly live up to such rigid standards and make the right choices every single day? Good news, we can’t. We can do nothing without God working through us. It’s only when we surrender to Him that we have the ability to walk in integrity.
Will we always get it right? Probably not. But the main thing is, when we blow it, whether in word, action, or thoughts, we need to quickly repent and return to right path.
Walking in Integrity is Walking in Constant Contact.

This is going to take constant contact on our part and a willingness to obey the voice of God when He speaks to us. Constant contact. That’s what our heavenly Father wants from us. He wants us to rely on Him for our decisions, our choices, and to fellowship with Him throughout the day.
Have you ever heard the phrase, “You become who you hang out with?” Well, imagine hanging out every day with God. You’re going to begin to sound like Him, make decisions like Him, and treat others as He would. Now that’s power and you can’t walk in integrity without the power of God working through you.

Failure is Not an Option

The only time we fail with God is when we stop putting Him first. We start talking ABOUT Him instead of talking TO Him, we stop listening for His still small voice, and we start relying on our own abilities. Go back and re-read the dictionary definition at the beginning of this article. Do you really think you could do that every day in every decision for the rest of your life? Only if you are a superhero…and when you are plugged in with God, you pretty much are.

If you do walk away for a little while, if you lose your connection, don’t beat yourself up. Just get back on board. A favorite pastor of mine always said, “I’m either UP…or I’m GETTING UP.” With that as your motto, failure is never an option…because you don’t have to rely on yourself. Fully rely on God’s abilities and what He will do through you and you’ll be able to walk it out…like a superhero!

Jeff Rebarcak
Colorado, USA
chillingwithjeff.com

Room For Everybody

Room For Everybody
a Sermon on Acts 2:1-21

"When the day of Pentecost came, all of them were together in one place. Suddenly, a sound like the roaring of a mighty windstorm came from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting. They saw tongues like flames of fire that separated, and one rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance."
(Acts 2:1-4)
________________________________________

Yes, it's the Feast of Pentecost again, the birthday of the church - the day we remember that very significant event that took place in Jerusalem that started with wind and fire and so much chaos, and concluded with the Apostle Peter standing up and explaining, "No, we are not drunk. It's only 9am in the morning" (the implication being, of course, that had it been a little later in the day, well ....).

Even so, Pentecost is a very significant event in the Christian calendar and, as far as Christian feasts go, it's my personal favourite of the entire ecclesiastical year!

I appreciate that this puts me out of step with the commercial world that has managed to find in Christmas and Easter major marketing opportunities for the sale and distribution of useless gifts and unhealthy foodstuffs respectively, and yet has failed thus far to get a foothold in the Feast of Pentecost (as far as I know).
And I appreciate that this might equally put me out of step with many of the faithful, for whereas Christmas and Easter focus on Christ - on his birth, death and resurrection respectively - the Feast of Pentecost is all about us, the church - who we are and where we came from - and hence an emphasis on Pentecost may seem relatively impious.

And yet my feeling is that we, the church, tend to be less confused about who Christ is - 'Son of God and Son of Man, with reasonable soul and human flesh subsisting' (that's for those of us who are fans of the Athanasian Creed) - than we are about who we are.

Who is the church? What are we supposed to be on about? What's the point of meeting together like this each week when there are so many other things we could be doing?
You only have to look at the history of the church and at the tensions within the church around the world today to realise that there is a great deal of confusion surrounding the question of who we are and what our role in this world is supposed to be.

I read an excellent article this week, written by someone who I see as one of this world's greatest living saints - the former Archbishop of Capetown, Desmond Tutu - who has just published a new book with the provocative title, "God is not a Christian!" And in this book he talks about the sad history of the church:
"We are supposed to proclaim the God of love, but we have been guilty as Christians of sowing hatred and suspicion; we commend the one whom we call the Prince of Peace, and yet as Christians we have fought more wars than we care to remember. We have claimed to be a fellowship of compassion and caring and sharing, but as Christians we often sanctify socio-political systems that belie this, where the rich grow ever richer and the poor grow ever poorer, ..."

And his point, I believe, is not simply that we are so regularly hypocritical, but more so that we are often confused - confused about who we are and about what our role in our community is supposed to be! Indeed, if you look at the history of the church over the last 2000 years, so much of it seems to be about empire building! We've been the religious end of imperialist expansionism - inspiring the soldiers of the empire and forgiving the atrocities of colonialism!

Look at the history of the church in this country. Christian clergy came on board the first fleet with a specific purpose - to keep the convicts in line! Our identity from the first was as moral policemen to the community and we've continued to play that role ever since.

Many of you might have noticed yesterday the article in the Sydney Morning Herald where our Archbishop forthrightly put his foot down on gay marriage, which is exactly what you'd expect from the moral policemen of our community! Is that really the sort of thing that the church should be doing? The answer may well be here in Pentecost - in the wind and the fire of Pentecost.
Now admittedly, if you didn't look beyond the phenomena of fire and wind, you could be forgiven for thinking that the role of the church is to blow hot air, but in fact the crux of the Pentecostal experience came after the wind and fire seemed to have died down:

"Now devout Jews from every nation under heaven were living in Jerusalem. When that sound came, the crowd rushed together and was startled because each one heard the disciples speaking in his own language. Stunned and amazed, they asked, "All of these people who are speaking are Galileans, aren't they? So how is it that each one of us hears them speaking in his own native language? We are Parthians, Medes, Elamites, people from Mesopotamia, Judea, Cappadocia, Pontus, Asia, Phrygia, Pamphylia, Egypt, the district of Libya near Cyrene, and visitors from Rome. We are Jews, proselytes, Cretans, and Arabs. Yet we hear them telling in our own tongues the great deeds of God!" All of them continued to be stunned and puzzled, and they kept asking one another, "What can this mean?" (Acts 2:5-12)

What we see taking place here is a miracle, and it's a miracle of communication, and it's a miracle that functions to bring people of different races and language groups together. And the list of those different races and language groups is extensive to the point of tedium: Parthians, Medes, Elamites, Mespotamians, Judeans, Cappadocians, ... (and so the list goes on) concluding with 'Cretans' (for whom I think the more politically correct term was 'Phoenicians') and Arabs! Everybody was there. "Yet we hear them telling in our own tongues the great deeds of God!" the crowd wondrously proclaims!

And Luke, the author of the book of Acts, was evidently making a point, as he evidently believed that God had been making a point in the way that the Pentecost event had been divinely organised and ordered, and that point was that the church, whatever else it was, was, from the first, a multicultural experience!
You don't have to read the passage through more than once to realise that this is the whole thrust of the passage. Everyone was there at Pentecost - the whole world, so it seemed. And indeed if you go through that list of people spelled out by Luke you'll find some people there who were a real surprise, most obviously the Medes and the Elamites!

The issue for the Medes and the Elamites was that they didn't just have to travel a couple of hundred miles to be there but a couple of hundred years as well! The kingdoms of Media and Elam were long gone by the first century AD!
And while most scholars would suggest that Luke was simply referring to the homelands of these visitors by their ancient names, I think it's also fair to say that, again, he was making a point, namely - that what was going on there that day, in the formation of the church, was something that was bigger than any one time or place. The formation of the church was in fact an event of cosmic significance because it was in fact the reversal of that ancient curse spoken of in the book of Genesis - the curse of Babel!

If you're familiar with the book of Genesis (or if you've heard me before at Pentecost) you know what I'm talking about. If not, I won't go through all those ancient stories that make up Genesis chapters one to eleven, but suffice it to say that they are a very ancient collection that includes such favourites as Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden, Cain and Abel, and Noah and the great flood.
And those great stories culminate with a story in Genesis chapter eleven about the first time human beings ever really united together for a common purpose. And it turns out to be a sinister purpose - a quest for power and self-aggrandisement. And so God curses the people of Babel by confusing their language so that they can no longer understand one another, and so the people fragment and are divided.
And whether we take this story literally or not does not matter. What is clear from the story, whether we take it literally or not, is that the division of the nations into different races and language groups was always seen in the Bible as a curse, and hence as something that God would one day overcome. And what is clear in the Pentecost experience, in the miracle of cross-cultural communication that took place there, was that God, in the very formation of the church, was undoing that ancient curse!

Just as the human community had been confused and pulled apart through linguistic diversity way back at Babel, so now the Spirit of God heals those divisions and starts bringing the races and language groups back together in the founding of the church as a truly multi-racial, multi-cultural and multi-linguistic community!
As St Paul would later say, "Christ himself has brought us peace by making Jews and non-Jews (and all the myriad nations that are included there) one people. With his own body he broke down the wall that separated us and kept us enemies." (Ephesians 2:14) And what God has brought together, let not man put asunder!

Now I'm not saying that this Pentecost experience in itself tells us everything we need to know about who we are as a church and what we are supposed to be doing in this world but it certainly does tell us that whatever it is we are supposed to be doing we are certainly supposed to be doing it together, in loving association with people of every other nation and culture and language group.

Rather than one group dominating and oppressing another, in the church all groups come together as one, and all the different races and cultures and language groups come to understand and respect each other, because this is the work of the Spirit of God in the church and this is the essential nature of Christian community!
Now I don't really want to make any other points this morning as I don't want us to lose our focus on the wonder of Christian community, as conceived at Pentecost through the miraculous work of the Spirit of God and as continues to take place in our community today through the miraculous work of that same Spirit!

Let me rather encourage each of you not to take it for granted, for it is not natural. What is natural is for birds of a feather to flock together. What's natural is homogeneous units, where white people hang with white people and black people hang with black people, highly-educated people hang with other highly-educated people, and less-educated people hang with less educated people, where men and women stick to their own gender groups and where teenagers form a peer society that shuts out anyone over 20.

What is natural is each race and class and language-group sticking to its own clique. What is super-natural is the church - that multi-racial, multi-cultural and multi-linguistic community that in its very being proclaims the wisdom of God to the rest of the world!

St Paul says of God that "He [brought together the nations] so that now, through the church, the manifold wisdom of God might be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly realm" (Ephesians 3:10). And that word 'manifold' there literally translates from the Greek as 'multi-coloured'.

That's St Paul's understanding of the church - that God brought us together so that His multi-coloured wisdom might be proclaimed to the ends of the universe! And I'm not suggesting that this tells us everything there is to know about what it means to be the church and what it is exactly that we're supposed to be doing in this world, but it does give us a framework, and brings us far closer to our core identity, I would suggest, than any role we might have as moral policemen, let alone as empire-builders!

I read a true story about a Parish Priest who tried to share the spirit of Pentecost with his congregation in a rather unique way, by setting up an enormous fan at the front of the church and, at an appropriate point in his sermon, turning it on to simulate the divine wind that blew upon the disciples on that day of the formation of the church.

Apparently he had one of those massive fans that's used to blow boats across swamps, and he set it up between the choir stalls at the front of the church, and he gave it a test run during the week while nobody was there and it seemed to work really well. What he hadn't counted on was that by the time he give his sermon the church would be full of people who had their bulletin sheets and other pieces of paper all laid out neatly in front of them on the pews. When the fan was switched on and the wind started to blow ...!

I decided not to simulate that experience this morning; partly because I don't have an adequately sized fan but mainly because I think we experience enough of that divine chaos around here already! Rest assured: chaos has always been an integral part of the experience! It comes with being a multi-racial, multi-cultural, multi-linguistic community. And yet it's all likewise a part of the miracle that allows us to be the church, and so to proclaim to the ends of the world the multi-coloured wisdom of God


Rev. David B. Smith
(the 'Fighting Father')
Australia

Parish priest, community worker,
martial arts master, pro boxer,
author, father of four

YOU CAN LEARN SO MUCH FROM WATCHING FISH . . . .

The lady that lived in the house next door to Charles and I died of cancer a few months ago. We only knew her to wave to her and we never knew she was sick. Charles became friendly with her son Adam who lived in North Carolina but came up every week after his mom died to get the house ready for selling because he did not want to keep it. Adam gave Charles the keys to the house in case we knew someone that wanted to look at it before he turned it over to the real estate agent. Charles also collected the mail for Adam and left it in the house.

When the house was finally sold, Adam rented a truck and took all of his mom’s furniture and belongings to North Carolina . He took everything except her fifty-five gallon fish tank. That he gifted to Charles. Charles was so happy. We cleaned it out and let the new fresh water flow through the filter for a few days. Then we went to Petsmart and purchased ten pretty fish. All the fish swam around the tank and seemed to get along with each other. All of them . . . except for this big grayish Oscar fish. “Big Gray” grew bigger than all of the other fish and grew up to be a big bully. He would chase all of the fish all over the tank. It was sad to see the other fish swim away as fast as they could as soon as they saw Big Gray approaching them.

Big Gray terrorized all of the other fish constantly. You would think the other nine fish would get together and kill or at least hurt Big Gray. They didn’t. They just continued to jump out of the way when the big fella swam near them.

What do you do when there is a bully around? Do you run away or do you stand up to him/her? The bible says, "A gentle answer turns away wrath, but a harsh word stirs up anger" (Proverbs 15:1). Do fish pray? They must because out of the clear blue sky yesterday, Charles told me that he called a few pet stores and he found one that would take Big Gray. He said he was sick and tired of that fish terrorizing the other nine fish but he did not want to flush Big Gray (as I suggested). Prayer is one of the most powerful weapons we have when going up against a bully. We have to pray that God will change the bully's heart while He gives us strength to walk away or we can also pray for God to just move bulllies away from us. Hmmmm, I believe fish can pray.
I also think fish read the bible. They must have read this scripture : “This is what the Lord says to you: 'Do not be afraid or discouraged because of this vast army. For the battle is not yours, but God's.” (2 Chronicles 20:15). They must have had enough faith to believe that God would make their battles His battles, and they knew He would fight their battle (against Mr Gray) for them. They might have been familiar with this scripture as well, “A righteous man may have many troubles, but the Lord delivers him from them all" (Psalm 34:19).

Let me tell you a secret that I learned; God never promised us that life would be a bed of roses while we are here in this world. One of the things I have learned is that God will fight our battles if we just keep still. Will you surrender (like the fish) and let Him fight your battles? Imagine how happy our lives will be if we did that? Will you try? I intend to!

A lot has happened with our fish over the last three years between 7/24/2008 and 11/10/2011:
After “Big Gray” moved out of our house, Charles replaced him with a white Oscar who was really nice. He was very kind (unlike Big Gray) and did not bother other fish (although he grew five times bigger than the other fish). Sadly, the big white fish died when Charles was in NY and I was home alone (why did that fish die on my watch???). I left him in the tank until Charles came home (too scared to scoop him out). Charles was so sad because that fish had the same “nice guy” disposition as Charles. Next he bought a black Oscar. This new guy was alright but yesterday Charles gave all the fish and the aquarium to Juan (his good friend who lives on the next block). Guess why? Because Charles got and even bigger aquarium from another one of his friends (I can’t remember the guy’s name) who lives about five blocks over. Oh geeze, this fish thing might be getting out of hand . . . .maybe we should get a dog (like Charles wants) because fish need a LOT of care . . . .you know what I’ve learned? All of God’s creatures need love and care. Whether they talk or walk or swim or fly or are stuck in dirt like plants. We all need love and care and prayer! “Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you” (Ephesians 4:32)

Sharon Griffin-Rogers
Florida, USA
God’s big neighborhood

SOYONS CURIEUX ET HUMBLE

Bienvenue à ce programme ! Peut-être, avez-vous décidé de visiter ce site par simple curiosité. Vous avez donc cliqué ici, seulement parce que vous vouliez connaître nos opinions et nos suggestions sur les évènements et les problèmes qui vous intéressent. En tout cas, laissez-nous vous assurer que vous avez bien fait de ne pas mépriser votre curiosité ; car il faut admettre que la curiosité a de nombreux avantages, malgré tout ce qu’on peut lui reprocher.

Possibilité de rater une opportunité par manque de curiosité…

Dans Exode 3 : 1-4, la Bible montre par exemple que c’est un peu grâce à sa curiosité que Moïse était devenu un serviteur de Dieu mondialement célèbre. Voici ce qu’on peut lire dans ce texte : «Moïse faisait paître le troupeau de Jethro, son beau-père, prêtre de Madian ; et il mena le troupeau derrière le désert, et vint à la montagne de Dieu, à Horeb. L’ange de l’Eternel lui apparut dans une flamme de feu, au milieu d’un buisson. Moïse regardait ; et voici, le buisson était tout en feu, et le buisson ne se consumait point. Moïse dit : je veux me détourner pour voir quelle est cette grande vision, et pourquoi le buisson ne se consume point. L’Eternel vit qu’il se détournait pour voir ; et Dieu l’appela du milieu du buisson, et dit : Moïse ! Moïse ! »

Sans doute, Moïse serait passé à côté de l’appel de Dieu, et son immense carrière prophétique n’aurait peut-être jamais eu lieu, s’il n’était pas assez curieux pour voir de près le buisson enflammé qui ne se consumait point. En le rapprochant de ce buisson là, sa curiosité lui avait en effet permis d’entendre la parole de Dieu, et de commencer à comprendre les ambitieux projets de Dieu le concernant. Et c’est ainsi qu’il avait pu sortir de sa monotone vie de berger du désert, et jouir d’une existence fortement palpitante, fructueuse, exaltante, et heureuse, jusqu’à la fin de ses jours.

Toutes choses concourent au bien de ceux qui aiment Dieu…

En fin de compte, est-il inconcevable que Dieu puisse tout utiliser librement pour nous bénir ?
A cet égard, voici ce que nous dit la Bible dans le passage de Romains 8 :28 ci-après : « Nous savons, du reste, que toutes choses concourent au bien de ceux qui aiment Dieu, de ceux qui sont appelés selon son dessein. » Effectivement, rien n’empêche que le moindre détail de notre quotidien soit lui-même un signal divinement choisi pour nous indiquer l’attitude, l’initiative et le chemin que nous devons prendre pour être secourus, prospères, utiles, et en sécurité.
1 Thessal. 5 :21 semble conforter ce point de vue en suggérant qu’on a intérêt à ne rien négliger, car la moindre chose qu’on voit, qu’on entend, ou qu’on ressent, peut être une prophétie par laquelle Dieu veut nous ouvrir les yeux sur un danger à éviter, ou une opportunité à saisir : « Ne méprisez pas les prophéties. Mais examinez toutes choses ; retenez ce qui est bon. »

Cher internaute, êtes-vous confronté à une situation difficile, étrange, inexplicable : peut-être, un accident, une maladie, un échec scolaire, une perte d’emploi, un divorce, un conflit familial, un souci financier, un problème de logement, un terrible sentiment de rejet, d’humiliation, et de solitude ? Etes-vous très en colère contre tous ceux que vous pensez en être la cause ? Leur en voulez-vous tellement que vous ne pouvez presque plus travailler, manger, ou dormir ? Vous êtes-vous laissé entraîner au tabagisme, à l’alcoolisme, à la drogue, et à tant d’autres habitudes mauvaises, pour essayer de vous distraire et de tout oublier ? Etes-vous donc lassés, fatigués, désespérés ? Arrêtez-vous un instant ! Usez de votre curiosité ! Compte tenu de ce qui vient d’être indiqué, demandez-vous quel signal, quelle prophétie, quel message d’origine divine vous pouvez entendre et retenir de cette fâcheuse situation ?

Ce que Dieu attend pour nous sortir d’un moment difficile…

Dans cet ordre d’idée, réfléchissez sur ce texte de Matthieu 11 :28-29 : « Venez à moi, vous tous qui êtes fatigués et chargés, et je vous donnerai du repos. Prenez mon joug sur vous et recevez mes instructions, car je suis doux et humble de cœur ; et vous trouverez du repos pour vos âmes. » Ce passage biblique est une parole sortie de la bouche même du Seigneur. Et il est prophétique en ce qu’il révèle le fond de nos problèmes et qu’il indique ce que Dieu attend de nous pour nous en sortir.

En premier lieu, le Seigneur y présente en effet nos difficultés comme étant pour lui l’occasion de nous dire : Eh, les enfants, comprenez maintenant, qu’il est temps pour vous de venir à moi ! Concluez de votre situation que vous êtes impuissants et que votre repos, votre délivrance ne peuvent provenir que de moi ! Venez à moi, et je vous donnerai du repos !

En deuxième lieu, il nous invite à faire un pas de plus avec Lui : « Prenez mon joug, et recevez mes instructions, et vous aurez du repos pour vos âmes. » En d’autres termes, souffrez que je vous dicte une ligne de conduite à suivre, une posture à adopter, une décision à prendre, pour que vous puissiez jouir d’une vraie paix. Et c’est effectivement un joug, une souffrance, que d’entendre quelqu’un nous dire ce que nous devons faire pendant que nous sommes en difficulté. Car cela sonne à nos oreilles comme un reproche, comme une culpabilisation. C’est comme si nous n’avions jamais rien fait correctement ! Et notre orgueil en est gravement blessé.

Le remède à la souffrance : une bonne dose d’humilité

Mais comme le message est prophétique, il propose d’avance le remède à cette souffrance. Et ce remède est de s’imposer une bonne dose d’humilité. Voici précisément ce que le Seigneur dit : « Souvenez-vous que je suis doux et humble de cœur. Et si vous apprenez quelque chose de ma douceur et de mon humilité, vous aurez du repos pour vos âmes, vous serez délivrés. »
Cher internaute, n’avez-vous pas en effet remarqué que la solution à vos problèmes vous exige généralement un certain degré d’humilité ? Etes-vous malade ? Pour guérir, vous devez être assez humble pour consulter un médecin et vous soumettre à son ordonnance. Etes-vous incompris ? Pour mieux vous faire entendre, il vous faut reconnaître que vous avez, vous-même, besoin d’apprendre à mieux écouter. Car souvent, par orgueil, nous pensons tous que c’est toujours l’autre qui est sourd et borné.

A propos, le Seigneur Jésus Christ, le Divin Médecin, l’unique Sauveur pour l’humanité, est parfaitement disposé à vous écouter, vous comprendre, et vous secourir, si, aujourd’hui, vous avez assez d’humilité pour répondre à son appel, et lui dire : Seigneur, me voici ! Sauve-moi, guéris-moi, relève-moi, purifie-moi de tout péché, et fais de moi un homme nouveau, une femme nouvelle ! Seigneur, fais-moi connaître tes voies, enseigne-moi tes sentiers, conduis-moi dans ta vérité, et instruis-moi ; car tu es le Dieu de mon salut, tu es toujours mon espérance.
Cher internaute, j’espère vous retrouver bientôt dans notre site et, dans cette attente, je prie qu’en Jésus Christ le Seigneur vous puissiez pleinement saisir l’opportunité de paix et de joie durable que vous avez longuement cherchée !

Pasteur RAKOTOBE Augustin
Madagascar - France

VICTOIRE SUR LA MORT !

HOMMAGE A UNE GRANDE CHAMPIONNE, A UNE CHRETIENNE….

Il paraît que de notre vivant, nous nous ressemblons tous un peu, mais la différence se dessine entre les êtres humains dans les moments difficiles. Dieu m’a donné le privilège d’accompagner une de mes anciennes collègues et amie pendant ses dernières heures sur cette terre. Et ce fut un moment de réelle bénédiction, car elle était une grande championne, et de surcroît, elle était chrétienne. Ni les souffrances atroces, ni la mort s’approchant n’ont entamé sa foi. Et sa foi a rendu son départ, glorieux, plein de grâces… Et je peux témoigner que j’ai vu dans ses yeux que – lorsque le moment était venu pour elle de traverser ce que nous appelons la vallée de la mort, cet instant précis qui précède l’au-delà – son Dieu était a ses côtés pour la rassurer…

Un témoignage fortement répandu dans la presse

A la mort de Joce, car il s’agit d’elle, une grande plume de la presse malgache , Stephane Jacob s’est chargée de rappeler son parcours de championne et de chrétienne: « Titulaire d’une maîtrise en droit, obtenue à la Faculté de Droit de l’Université d’Andraijato à Fianarantsoa, et diplômée de l’Ecole de Journalisme de la Faculté des Lettres et des Sciences Humaines de l’Université d’Ankatso à Antananarivo, Jocelyne Randrianary a choisi de faire carrière dans la presse, en rejoignant la rédaction du quotidien Gazetiko du groupe Midi Madagasikara en 1999. Rédactrice de la rubrique « société » de Gazetiko, elle a obtenu une belle promotion en devenant rédactrice en chef de l’hebdomadaire Midi Flash/Midi Mailaka… Grande sportive, Jocelyne était Ceinture Noire 3è Dan de Karaté-Do, du style Shotokan. S’entraînant avec une grande rigueur et pratiquant son art sans jamais dévier de son enseignement profond, Jocelyne était, sans surprise, championne de Madagascar en Kata à plusieurs reprises. »

Mais surtout, ce matin là, et d’ailleurs tous les matins qui ont suivi son départ, les milliers de Malgaches – mais aussi bien d’autres qui ont suivi les actualités à travers la presse écrite et le net – ont pu lire à plusieurs reprises, diverses expressions témoignant de sa foi : « Jocelyne s’en est allée. Dignement. Dans la paix du Seigneur », « Vivre et mourir pour la gloire de Dieu »…
Pour ma part, avec l’accord de sa famille, je voudrai rendre hommage à la puissance et à la force de sa vie…

Une vie puissante

A Paris, le personnel médical nous a prévenu que la sensation de se sentir mourir est atroce et peu d’êtres humains le supportent. Et c’est ainsi qu’on a mis en place des « traitements » pour ces derniers instants. Mais son infirmière nous a partagé, que tout le monde était unanime, Jocelyne continuait à se battre avec une force, et un courage qui étonnaient plus d’un… Je rends grâce au Seigneur du témoignage que je peux apporter aujourd’hui sur cette force et cette puissance qui accompagnent ceux qui se confient en Jésus, qu’importent le moment et le contexte !

Tel Jésus, tels les grands hommes de la Bible : le souci des autres

Peu avant qu'elle ne plonge dans un état presque comateux, alors qu'elle avait déjà des difficultés à parler, je l'ai vu encore demander des nouvelles des proches des personnes qui lui rendaient visite. Elle a pris soin de laisser un message pour « son ou sa futur filleul », qui n’était pas encore né ; de discuter avec espoir de l’orphelin qu’elle allait laisser, de l’avenir des personnes qu’elle aimait… Alors qu'elle était sur le point de partir, la grande championne qu'elle était se souciait encore des autres. Le soir où j’ai décidé de ne plus rentrer, elle s'inquiétait de comment moi et sa maman allions pouvoir dormir... grande dame pleine d'initiative, sa fatigue ne lui a pas empêché de presser le bouton et d'en parler aux infirmières... Oui, même peu avant de mourir, mon amie s'est inquiétée de comment nous allons passer la nuit...

Elle a repoussé l'échéance des sondes autant que faire se peut, pour son petit garçon. Elle était prête à souffrir plus, à accepter plus d’inconvénients pour ne pas traumatiser son fils... Et alors qu'elle rendait progressivement son souffle, par des petites toux, elle n'oublia jamais, même dans son état très affaibli de mettre sa main devant sa bouche, comme pour dire: "pardon de vous déranger, pardons de mourir en toussant..." Et la liste des choses extraordinaires que j'ai vécues à ses côtés et aux côtés de sa maman est longue...

Honorer la vie qu’on lui a prêtée

Puis-je oublier qu'à chaque fois que ses larmes trahissaient la gravité de sa douleur, elle s'empressait de les effacer de son visage… Car elle a tenu jusqu'au bout à ne jamais se plaindre et à honorer la vie qu'on lui a prêtée. Selon l'infirmière, un autre patient serait mort depuis longtemps. Oui, notre amie, Jocelyne elle s'est battue jusqu'au bout.

Hommage à une autre chrétienne : sa maman

Mais je rends hommage aussi à sa maman, une chrétienne vivant pleinement sa foi. Le cœur meurtri, mais dans une grande dignité, telle mère telle fille, a dit: "tu peux partir ma fille, ton combat est fini, tu as peut être eu une vie courte mais très remplie, remplie d'amour, remplie de courage, tu peux t'en aller, nous nous occuperons de Kanto, repose-toi dans le ciel maintenant..."

La paix jusqu’au bout…

Quelques instants après, l'ombre de la mort s'est vue un court instant dans ses yeux effrayés, elle levait ses bras, cherchait un contact… Mais très vite, oui très vite, l'expression de son visage a changé, j’ai vu ses yeux s’apaiser, j’ai vu son visage, tout son être se détendre touché par une grâce et une paix extraordinaire... Une paix qu’elle garda jusqu’au bout... Elle a rendu son dernier souffle dans la discrétion, ses mains tenues par sa maman mais aussi par et certainement par Celui qu’elle a tant voulu honorer, envers et contre tout.
Mon amie s’en est allée, dans la dignité, dans la paix, en ayant remporté tous ses combats pas uniquement de karateka… Gloire soit rendue à Dieu !!! Gloire à Dieu pour tout ce qu’elle nous a transmis et enseigné…

BH

Je dédie ce témoignage à tous ceux qui ont aimé Jocelyne ! Vous qui étiez sur ses lèvres et dans son cœur jusqu’au bout, Kanto, Mama Déline, sa famille, ses amis karateka et journalistes…

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